Improvement in bottle-fillers and corkers



Q 2 Sheets-Sheet 1. T. W. COWEY.

' Bottle-Filler and Corker. 1 v

No. 86,816. V Patented Feb. 9, 1869.

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W. COWEY, or C-ANNONSBURG, PENNSYLVANIA.

' Letters Patent No. 86,816, dated February 9, 1869.

IMPROVEMENT IN BOTTLE-FILLERS AND CORKERS.

The Schedule referred to in these Letters Patent and making part of thesame.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, T. W. (lower, of Canno'nsbnrg, in the county ofWashington, and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and improvedBottle-Filler and Corker; and I do hereby declare that the following isa full, clear, and exact description of the construction and operationof .the same, reference being had. to the accompanying drawings, makinga part of this specification, in which.

Figure 1 is a plan view;

Figure 2 is "a side elevation;

Figure 3 is a vertical section of the corking-device; and 9 I Figure 4is a vertical section of the filling-device.

This invention consists, in the first place, in adapting to a vessel forreceiving liquids from the barrel, preparatory to the bottling andcorking-processcs, an automatic device for regulating the quantity to bedrawn off; second, in a peculiar and novel apparatus for filling bottlesfrom the aforesaid vessel; third, in a peculiar and novel device forcol-king bottles after being filled.

In the drawings, A represents a receptacle, made of sheet-metal, orglass, or porcelain, and of a capacity to suit the needs of theemployer, the vessel being intended to receive liquor from the barrelscontaining it.

Said receptacle is provided with a vertical bail, O, rigidly attached,in any suitable manner.

Through the tops of the bail 0 passes a short, perpendicular tube, a,rigidly connected-with the bail.

Through the tube a, passes a small rod, b, sliding freely.

The upper part of the rod is provided with a screwthread, on which isplaced a crank, b. When the crank b is in contact with the upper end ofthe tube a, by rotating it, the rod 1) may be raised or lowered, asdesired.

To the lower end of the rod 1) is firmly attached the upper end of avertical pipe, or tube, a, which rests; in

' suitable supports, in the receptacle, so as to be capable of receivingan up-and-down motion from the aforesaid screw-thread.

Ahorizontal pipe, 0, opens into the pipe 0, through which pipes theliquor is drawn off from the barrel.

A float, d, of nearly the diameter of the receptacle A, slides on thevertical pipe 0, by means of any suitable attaching-device, such as armsd, connecting the float with a tube, 0, sliding on the pipe 0.

The tube 0 is long .enough to cover the orifice in the side of the pipe0, through which the liquor flows into the receptacle.

By means of the float and tube, the liquor is made to shut off its ownflow.

The height of the liquor in the. receptacle, at which the flow is shutoii, is regulated by'the crank b.

The liquor passes from the receptacle through a glass tube, h, into ahorizontal, semicircular pipe, i, supported, by brackets, upon the frameB.

The pipei is provided, at its under side, with as many smaller verticalpipes k as may be desired, each of which has an opening, k, fig. 4, atits lower end, the length of each pipe It being such as to make it form,in connection with the pipes h and t, a siphon.

To each pipe k is fitted. a sliding bottling-guide, consisting of a'horizontal disk, I, connected, by three or more vertical rods 1', to aring, Z, and a tube, 1', fastened, at its top, to the under side of thedisk I, and fitting, pretty closely, the pipe is.

When the lower end of the tube c' rests against the flange on the lowerend of the pipe 75, the orifice 7c of the latter is closed. To open it,the tube l' must be pushed up above the hole It. This is done, in mymachine, by the bottle itself.

Each bottle 0 (as many as there are pipes in) is placed in a hole, an,inthe round table D, the bottom of the bottle resting upon a disk, m,rigidly attached to the top of a stud, m, each stud passing through thecorresponding table D, situated at a convenient distance below theother. The lower end of each stud m" rests upon the platform E, saidplatform being connected, by sockets, with the vertical posts B, so as.to slide up and down thereon, under the action of springs n, attached,at their upper ends, to the cross-beam B, which springs tend to keep theplatform E in contact with the round table D, and, consequently, thedisks m in con tact With the table I).

The platform E, with its disks, is lowered by the action of afoot-lever, F, connected, at one end, to a shaft, F, suitably supportedin a frame of its own, which shaft bears an arm, E, which rests upon theplatform E. Y

The'bottles 0, having been placed on their disks m, and brought underthe pipes k, the springs 11. elevate them, so as to bring the neck ofeach bottle within the ring 1'. The head of the bottle strikes the diskI, or a cushion, 0, on the under side of each disk, thus raising thetube 1' above the orifice k, and. setting the stream. of liquor inmotion, t6 fill the bottle;

An air-pump, i, is placed in the tops of the pipe i to facilitate thefirst flow of the liquor through the pipes, after which, it flows ofitself.

The surface of the liquor in the receptacle A being set, by theregulator before described, higher than the orifice It, the liquor flowsinto the bottles on the siphonprinciple, and when it rises in eachbottle to the height of the liquor in the receptacle, the flow stops, asa matter of course. I thus avoid all waste in filling. The

quantity in the receptacle varies but slightly, owing to the working ofthe regulator.

The bottles having been filled, the catch 1', tha retains the table D,is withdrawn by pressing back the lever 'r, pivoted to the upright 13,and the table D ro tated on its pivot, bringing a set of empty bottlesunder the fillers, and carrying the full bottles around, under thecorking-apparatus.

This consists of two uprights, G G, supported in a a suitable positionin reference to the table 1), and connected, at their tops, by the barG. A horizontal connecting-rod, H, joins two tubes. 8 s, which slideupon the vertical guides G.

To theunder side of the connecting-rod H is attached a curved bar,1,,from the under side of'\vl1ichprojects vertically downward, a number(as many as there are bottles to be corked) of plungers, t. Each plungerslides in a vertical tube, 13, suitably attached to the bar I forsupport, and, at its lower end, expanding into a funnel, t, to receivethe head of the bottle. The tube thas a magazine, 1:, opening into it atone side, and filled with corks.

The magazine is supplied with corks through a pipe,

"u, of a diameter suited to the size of the corks to be so as to passthrough a slot, W, in the curved plate 10,

which is attached to the uprights G at about the same height as thecurved bar I, and is concentric therewith.

The connecting-rod H, with all its paraphernalia, is drawn downward bythe action of a foot-lever, K, joined to the bar H by a connecting-wire,2:, the lever K being suitably pivoted to a post, M.

The tubes t, in which are corks, as shown at e, descend, With the rest,until the funnels t" come in contact with the topsof the bottles, whenthey stop, and the plungers 1? continue to descend through them, forcingthe corks into the mouth of the bottles,

At the same time that the tubes t and u pause in their descent, thelower ends of the bent levers 1: come in contact with the tops of theslots w, thus forcing the lower ends of said levers outward, andwithdrawing the feeders o from beneath the tubes u. This allows a corkto slip from each tube, a, into each magazine, c, which corks, when themagazine rises again, are pushed be fore the feeders in the tubes t, thefeeders being forced inward by the bent levers '12 coming in contactwith the upper ends of the slots w as the tube it rises.

. The rising of the bar H, with its tubes and plungers, is due to theretractive force of the spring 2.

The bottles are now corked and ready to be removed;

This is efi'ectedby swinging back the foundation M, in which theuprights G G are supported, said foundation being pivoted, at one end,to the floor N.-

The foundation M-being swung back, with the whole corking-lnachineryjust described, the table D is laid open, and the filled bottles may beeasily removed from it, and an empty set supplied.

In practice, I design to have three sets of bottles on the tables atonce one set filling, one being corked, and the third, removed. 4

The machine may, of course, be made large enough to accommodate anydesired number of bottles.

The pipe h is made of glass, so that the operator can see when thebottles are filled, by the liquor ceasing Having thus described myinvention,

What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. The float 01 provided with the tube e, in combination with the pipe0, rod 1), tube a, and hail O, for the purpose of regulating the heightof liquor in the receptacle A, and keeping its quantity uniform,substantially as described.

2. The circular pipe 3, provided with the filling-pipes K, incombination with the feeding-pipe h, arranged in the manner described.

3. The disk I, in combination with the guide, consisting of the rods 1and ring I", substantially as described.

4. The turntable D D, in combination with the disk m,-stud m m",platform E, and spring n, and lever F, as and for the purpose described.v

5 In a bottling and filling-machine, the turn-table D D, as and for thepurpose specified.

6. The connecting-bar H, in combination with the curved rod 1 andplungers t, for corking. any number of bottles at a time.

7 The magazine V, in' combination with the feeder o, the tubes u and t,levero, and slotted plate '10, in the manner and for the purposespecified.

To the above specification of my improvement, I have signed my hand,this 7th day of September, 1868.

T. W. .GOWEY.

Witnesses Cross. A. PETTIT, S. O. KEMON.

